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WNBA FINALS: FEVER v LYNX

October 9, 2015

Stephanie White

Indianapolis, Indiana: Game Three

Minnesota Lynx - 80
Indiana Fever - 77

COACH WHITE: That was just a great player making a great play at the end of the game. I'm proud of our team for how hard we fought. We battled. We did a much better job in some of the areas that we needed to improve. But that was just a hell of a shot by Maya Moore. Great individual effort on her part. She comes back in, and I think the beginning of the fourth quarter maybe has five straight points, and Minnesota got great balance. Their bench, again, was superb, and we just gave ourselves an opportunity. We gave ourselves an opportunity and didn't capitalize.

Q. What were you trying to do defensively against Maya on that final possession with 1.7 left?
COACH WHITE: We were just trying to make her hit a contested shot. I mean, I guess if you think about it and you go through it again in your mind, all you have to say is you've got to stay down on the pump fake.
But you're not thinking about a pump fake with 1.7 seconds. I felt like Marissa did everything she could do to keep her from getting the ball, and when she got it, that little head and shoulder fake. One of the great things that Maya Moore does, she always stays poised. She always stays under control. Marissa wanted to contest, and got suckered a little bit in the head and shoulder fake, but I just thought that was a heck of a shot, heck of a play.

Q. In the first half Maya went out and you went on a run to take the lead, I think, and then the second time she went out with 8 minutes left in the third quarter; you guys couldn't really capitalize on that. Was that the difference that you just couldn't take advantage of her being out in that third quarter?
COACH WHITE: Yeah, I think so. We're trying to make a run, and I think if I'm not mistaken, that was the quarter where Dev Peters hit the jumper or two jumpers maybe. Our defensive energy and I said this to our team in the third quarter, our defensive energy just went down, and I'm not exactly sure what that was. I hope it wasn't that, okay, Maya Moore's out of the game, we can relax, because they've got plenty of other Olympians out there on the floor. I don't think that was it. But we talked about that in the timeout that our defensive energy needs to get better. I felt like we did. We got better. But you can't afford those type of runs against a great team.

Q. In the huddle during the timeout with 1.7 left, was there any question in your mind who they were going to go to?
COACH WHITE: Not at all, not at all. Maya Moore's going to get it. We talked about switching to try to keep her from catching, and then we had to be able to contest any shot that she put up.

Q. What were they doing early on that caused you guys problems defensively, especially with Tamika? She seemed to have a difficult time getting going in the beginning of the ballgame?
COACH WHITE: Especially when they go with that small lineup, when they go with Renee Montgomery and Anna Cruz, they just have a tremendous amount of ball pressure. Those two defensively do such a good job of not allowing you to get into a rhythm offensively. And then they denied passing lanes, and we found a little bit of rhythm at some points and then at others we allowed their pressure to affect us. We weren't helping each other getting out.
We weren't setting or losing screens. What happens with that pressure, they set you up and not lose the screens. You sort of lose a little bit in terms of your execution and your details. So you just have to give them credit for great defense.

Q. Stefanie and Shenise Johnson had a great first half. What caused the drop in effectiveness, so to speak?
COACH WHITE: I don't know. She was getting some easy looks before. They matched her up with good looks in the second half. I think she got loose early and changed the match‑up and she didn't get quite so loose. They made her a little bit of a focal point.
But other players stepped up and scored the ball for us in the second half. We can't afford to have eight turn overs in the half. We did a better job on the boards and still turned it over. We had mental lapses at critical moments, whether it be mental lapses of execution, coming out of timeouts or knowing what we're trying to get and mental lapses in terms of just not being on balance when we have the ball. Not being in the right coverage on defense, and you can't afford to have those at this time of the year. You certainly can't afford to have them against a great team.

Q. You mentioned that Cruz and Montgomery defensively, but combined for 22 points tonight. How important do you feel that also was for them?
COACH WHITE: I think it was critical. I think that three that Montgomery hit when she tied it up, that was huge. That was huge. When you can get some production from those guys, the way they're able to pressure you, but then attack you and get into the paint, they just do a very good job of keeping you off balance with their quickness, and their decision making was very good as well.

Q. They're down 2‑1, and we've got Game 4 here on Sunday. How much does this have an impact on your preparations on this team for what we can see on Sunday?
COACH WHITE: How much does being down versus being up 2‑1? Is that what you're asking?

Q. I'm asking that, plus with the disappointing loss, how does that impact your preparation?
COACH WHITE: It doesn't impact it. We prepare the same way regardless. We still have to make adjustments to some of the things they heard us on. We still have to find different ways that when they get up on us that we can create space offensively. Whether you win or lose, and whether you're home or away, whether it's Game 4 or game 5, or game 1, I think the way we prepare, and I'm sure the way they prepare is the same.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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